Chelsea's first pre-season Stateside tour 20 years would mark a new era not only at Stamford Bridge but also in the life of Brian Cameron.

Jose Mourinho had just arrived as manager. Future club legends Petr Cech and Didier Drogba were signed up, as well as a host of other top talent. Foundations were being laid for a team that would win back-to-back Premier League titles.

For Brian Cameron a chance offer of a ticket to see the Blues play AC Milan that summer would be the start of his lifelong passion.

Here the Philly Blues member talks us through that first game and his Chelsea journey.

I have played football for as long as I can remember. But in America we never really had any top level clubs that I could support.

I obviously rooted for the national team, but as a young kid, you would just find players around the world that you liked to watch and often that would spark your fan interest.

Then one day, a friend I was playing football with had a spare ticket to this game: AC Milan v Chelsea. He had gone down his phone log and I just happened to be the first person to say yes.

I remember being hooked as soon as the teams came out. Going to that stadium, seeing it full of supporters, it was a huge moment for me.

That was the start of my fanhood, I guess. It was a great team we had at that time, the start of a side that went on to win loads of trophies with John Terry, Claude Makelele and many more.

Milan had Cafu, Kaka and, like Chelsea, some of the best players in the world. Andriy Shevchenko was playing and would go on to score the winner for 3-2 – little did I think he’d end up at Chelsea a few years later.

We had signed Didier Drogba a month before that and your casual fan did not know much about him at that time, certainly over here in the States.

He was still wearing the no.15 shirt but he scored a trademark Drogba header. I remember being blown away - thinking ‘wow this guy is going to be on our team' and we didn’t know much about him.

But we had shown real fight. I was drawn towards that Chelsea side. I went in not aligned with any particular team – but I came out a Blue.

When we won the Champions League in 2012, the Blues were back in Philadelphia and they brought the trophy.

By this point, my family – my dad, siblings and cousins – all knew I was a big Chelsea supporter and had come over to watch the game with me.

We knew something special was going on when the squad arrived in Philly. They told some of us at the supporters' club to arrive at the Ritz-Carlton, the fanciest hotel in the city, at a certain time.

A door was opened up to a big conference room and the whole squad was around a table with the trophy in the middle. Here I am, 22 years old, a huge fan and it just blew my mind. Suddenly I was meeting John Terry, Frank Lampard and the team. We had also just signed Eden Hazard.

At that point Eden didn’t speak any English and was slumped in a chair, looking so relaxed, just winking at us. I remember saying to my Dad afterward ‘I’m not sure about him’. Well, we all know how wrong I was about that as Eden went on to become my favourite player and a bona fide Blues legend.

When I met my wife Hannah, she quickly found out how much Chelsea means to me and one of our first purchases together was another of my loves, our rescue dog Sadie.

One of my favourite memories from supporting Chelsea is watching the noon kick-offs in the Premier League. It would be 7.30am our time and I’d always get up, make my wife a tea and then Sadie and I would just be on the couch watching the game together.

That was my happy place: watching the game with my pup on my lap, coffee in my hand, cheering on our team.

Sadly she passed away just last week so I’ve been thinking a lot about all the times we’ve had watching the team together. To me Chelsea is family, it’s my one passion.

Like I say, football is my happy place. Whether that is playing or watching it. It’s a great distraction from my job as a school principal which can be pretty stressful at times.

Winning the Champions League finals are some of the happiest days of my life. It’s a part of who I am and a part of my family.

Nowadays of course I don’t miss a match. I've watched games at some of the craziest places and having to search out a quiet bar when on vacation has become common place.

I mean, Chelsea - to me without sounding like a cliché - it's a part of who I am, and it's feels a part of my family.

And I know I am not alone. The Philly Blues supporters' club has expanded with every year – as you can see in some of my photos. We’re now a platinum club with over 100 members.

If I’m not watching at home, I’m at our regular meeting spot, the Tir na nÓg bar where there’s always a good atmosphere.

In the years that followed from that first tour, I’ve managed to make matches in different cities when the team is over here, including Charlotte, Baltimore, Michigan and Florida to name a few.

But we’ve also made trips over to Stamford Bridge and other stadiums in England around 30 times now. My first time at the Bridge was in 2015, the year we won the Premier League in Mourinho’s second spell.

But for any US fans who have not had the chance to so far, make sure you make it down to a Chelsea game if you can.

The club is so accessible over here, with the players doing question-and-answer sessions and the Blues hosting other events. I’ve always appreciated the club's efforts to help us meet players and legends.

When they last came to Philadelphia, Reece James came and had a cheese steak, making sure players and staff were trying out the local culture. The club comes here so often and does a great job of building the fan base.

Nowadays, all of our games are on the TV every weekend, which certainly wasn't the case in those early years of supporting the club.

But now every game is televised, it means we always have new fans joining every year, which is so cool.

2004 feels like such a long time ago. I can't wait for the next 20 years of being a Blue.

Chelsea’s USA Tour 2024

Don't miss your chance to make your own unforgettable memories when Chelsea visit the USA this summer.